question about new kitten and diarrhea

hey there, i just got a kitten yesterday morning. his name's Taz and he's 7 weeks old.

he has slight diarrhea, it's not bad and i only just noticed it. i'm also not entirely sure if he's peed yet, since i brought him home. everything seemed fine yesterday, he was jumping and playing and running around, being a crazy, normal kitten. but today he seems very sleepy and lethargic, and when he wakes up to go play, it's not for very long before he either runs to the litterbox or just goes back to sleep again. he's also not as rambunctious as he was yesterday.

could it just be the stress of the new environment? i didn't change his food, coincidentally i bought the exact same stuff that the woman taking care of him was feeding him. i'm just a little worried, that's all. he's my first cat, and i want him to be healthy and happy. any advice or comments are greatly appreciated.

-Liz

With any new kitten you get, you should have them vet checked within the first few days of getting them. Your kitty probably has worms (they are often born with them). 7 weeks is really too young to be away from his mom as well. Have him vet checked tomorrow. Also if you change his food, you need to do it gradually over about a 2 week period or that can also cause diarrhea. Let us know how you make out.

i'm going to call the vet tomorrow and make an appointment for tuesday, because i work tomorrow so i can't take him then.
the only reason that i have a kitten this young is because the woman i got him from works at a vet clinic and all the kittens she was looking after were rescued from neglectful homes. they were all really young, but sooo adorable! (duh...they're kittens)
i think he's a bengal, or part bengal...he has the marbling in his fur (although it's vague because he's just a little bitty kitten) and his tummy's all spotted.
or maybe it's just wishful thinking that i have a cool cat

i'll keep you updated
-Liz

hello again...i know i'm asking a lot of questions but this is my first cat and i don't have anyone else to ask...so here it is.

this morning when taz went to the litter box, he came out with a tiny little stool still attached, which was light in colour and with a bit of blood in it (sorry for being so graphic) and i'm really worried about him. also, when i cleaned out his litterbox right after this and left the room, i came back 2 minutes later to find two tiny (less than an inch diameter, each) white patches on the carpet, which looked foamy. is that vomit, maybe if they don't have anything in their stomach? i really hope it's nothing serious, but if it is i'm definitely taking him to the vet ASAP - i don't care about paying for an extra visit, i want to make sure taz is ok and to get him any meds he needs.
i wanted to make a vet appointment for tomorrow to get him checked out, but when my mom called to make it (a) they said they didn't have any free spots tomorrow and (b) my mom wanted to get his checkup at the same time as his shots, which he can't get until next week because he's only 7 weeks old and they won't do the shots until 8 weeks.
please, please reply...i'm worried so much about him and i really hope i'm just being paranoid...

If you've seen blood in his stool and the foamy stuff, I would at least call the vet and talk to them. They could give you a better idea if it can wait until next week or if you need to bring him in today. A phone call shouldn't cost you anything and will ease your mind. If they think it is an emergency they will want you to bring him in right away.

thanks, i'll do that.
he is playing, though...he just went back to sleep. i have a 1/2-inch thick cardboard tube wrapped in sisal rope, and he jumped on it and it fell over...poor thing, i hope he's not scared of it now he was even starting to get the idea that you're supposed to *scratch* it, not try and chew the little threads off. silly kitty.
thanks again
-Liz

Any updates on your Kitty? Hope he is ok. Let us know!

yep, he's doing great. he had his first vet appointment on monday, and he didn't get his shots because he had an upper respiratory infection. he's on antibiotics and he's doing much better. i asked about the diarrhea and vomiting and the vet said that unless the vomiting was more than a couple times, it's nothing to worry about. and the diarrhea has gone away, so that's all good now too. other than that, he's a normal, rambunctious, troublemaking 9-week old kitten (who keeps trying to type!)

and i had since found out that he is a silver marbled bengal.

thanks for your help, too...i've been reading this board obsessively since i got him, reading any and all threads relevant to anything happening with taz and it's been a huge help.

That's wonderful news. I'm so happy you had him vet checked. Our little ones have no one to look after them but us so we have to do our best. Sounds like a lovely kitty. You really must post some pictures as I would love to see him.

well, here are some pictures...he's gotten so much bigger in the last 3 weeks! it's crazy!

this was taken the day i got him:


this was a week and a half ago:


and these two were taken Sunday:



voila! i'll post more when he gets a bit bigger...you can already see his marbling getting more pronounced...the light parts are much lighter than when we got him and he has less "kitten fuzz" as i call it.

your kitty is beautiful. Very handsome. Glad to hear he's doing better

Looks like we are going to have yet another spoiled kitty here on TCS. He's a cutie. Glad he's getting better.